
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Myth and Identity in the Martial Arts: Creating the Dragon (Lexington Books, 2025) is a study of the role of myth and ideology in the formation of social identity, focusing on a variety of communities of practice involving the martial arts in East Asian and Western history. Alexus McLeod argues that myths of the martial arts should not be understood as “falsehoods” created as means of legitimizing modern practices, but should instead be understood as narratives that enable individuals and communities to formulate social identities and to accord meaning to their practices. This book covers six influential sources of myth and identity formation in the history of martial arts: early Chinese and Indian philosophy, the formation bushido thought in the Edo period of Japan, Republican-era Chinese conceptions of nationhood and physical culture, Western contributions and the innovations of Bruce Lee, African American conceptions of martial arts as a response to oppression in the twentieth century, and the contemporary ideologies of mixed martial arts.
On doing philosophy with non-textual sources, see Alexus McLeod, An Introduction to Mesoamerican Philosophy.
On violence as the preferred weapon of the stupid (so they can avoid doing any interpretative labour), see David Graeber, The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies
4.5
5757 ratings
Myth and Identity in the Martial Arts: Creating the Dragon (Lexington Books, 2025) is a study of the role of myth and ideology in the formation of social identity, focusing on a variety of communities of practice involving the martial arts in East Asian and Western history. Alexus McLeod argues that myths of the martial arts should not be understood as “falsehoods” created as means of legitimizing modern practices, but should instead be understood as narratives that enable individuals and communities to formulate social identities and to accord meaning to their practices. This book covers six influential sources of myth and identity formation in the history of martial arts: early Chinese and Indian philosophy, the formation bushido thought in the Edo period of Japan, Republican-era Chinese conceptions of nationhood and physical culture, Western contributions and the innovations of Bruce Lee, African American conceptions of martial arts as a response to oppression in the twentieth century, and the contemporary ideologies of mixed martial arts.
On doing philosophy with non-textual sources, see Alexus McLeod, An Introduction to Mesoamerican Philosophy.
On violence as the preferred weapon of the stupid (so they can avoid doing any interpretative labour), see David Graeber, The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies
4,283 Listeners
3,954 Listeners
209 Listeners
3,480 Listeners
193 Listeners
162 Listeners
161 Listeners
23 Listeners
110 Listeners
29 Listeners
104 Listeners
143 Listeners
29 Listeners
61 Listeners
599 Listeners
6,670 Listeners
591 Listeners
202 Listeners
1,745 Listeners
269 Listeners
6,751 Listeners
130 Listeners
11 Listeners
15,335 Listeners
346 Listeners